White Teacher Ch. 21-26


I think these ending chapters were mostly about showing the growth that the children made since the beginning but also still showing how each child taught the "white teacher" something new. There was still segregation in the classroom and one of the teachers, Sonia, pointed out to the teacher that by using the stereotype of "the black girls group" reinforced it in her own mind and didn't allow her to see those children as individuals. Sonia really opened her eyes in the to see that she wouldn't like it if she was called the "jewish group of girls" so she shouldn't use those terms for other types of people. Also I remembered from the beginning she was talking about how to wanted to only teach in a multicultural classroom and now that she has one she segregates them in her own head. She realized that the reason why her experiences with the black children meant so much to her was because she identified herself as an outside like them. Outsiders need to be seen for who they are and their own identity. The conclusion that this teacher made was that the children need to grown up knowing and liking those who are different or they will live as strangers. One of the questions that the teacher asked herself was "Have I learned or grown at all over these 5 years as teacher?", and I think that yes she has because she has learned a lot of things and yes she still tended to segregate children in her mind but now that she realized it she will grow even more. I think that throughout all these experiences with these children she has grown a decent amount considering now she knows how to handle certain problems or issues created by different kinds of children. I enjoyed reading this book because it was a very easy read but also because it is something that is important for teachers still today to understand that you can't separate different kinds of people and you have to treat everyone fairly. Now, this may not be such of a problem now a days depending on your beliefs but if your going to be a teacher you have to leave your own beliefs aside and teach the students fairly.